Education vs. Bias
Mental Illness:
Education vs. Implicit Bias
Laura Faith
Ursinus College
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Education vs. Bias
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Abstract
This study examined the supposed biases against mental illness using the implicit bias test. A
sample of 27 undergraduate students at Ursinus College were evaluated to determine the level of
education regarding Depression and Schizophrenia in relation to the level of bias evaluated. The
hypothesis was that less education would result in a higher bias against mental illness. Patterns in
common misconceptions and awareness were analyzed.
Education vs. Bias
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Introduction
Many social stigmas remain in our culture, but the stigma towards mental illness seems to
have very slow progress. Mental illness patients were treated as prisoners in hospitals long ago,
but hard work in reformation, including leaders such as Dorothea Dix in the United States,
transformed mental facilities into what they are today. Treatments for mental illnesses have come
a long way since the days of drilling holes through patients’ skulls, but, somehow, the stigma
still remains.
Mental illness is like any other physical handicap, like heart disease or arthritis, but
unlike these handicaps, mental illness manifests itself through behavior. Since there are many
different types of mental illness, several variations in behavior become apparent. Individuals
uneducated in mental illness may be unaware of this disability and conclude that one suffering
from mental illness is just ‘weird’, ‘weak’, or ‘dangerous’. These assumptions, likely stemming
from a lack of knowledge in the cause of this unusual behavior, are what contribute to the
immense stigma of mental illness. When treated properly, one may not even be able to tell if one
has a mental illness. In an experimental British program titled ‘How Mad are You?”, trained
professionals could not even tell between a properly treated sufferer of mental illness and an
average individual (Satel 2009).
Although there are many types of mental illness, Depression is one of the most common
mental illnesses suffered throughout the world. It was once thought that Depression was simply
feeling sad or just having a bad day. Years of research reveal that Depression is caused by
imbalances in the brain as well as structural and functional differences in the brain. Depression is
the most common mental illness, affecting millions around the world. It is estimated that Major
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Depression afflicts about 6.7% of the population (WebMD 2005-2009). Depression is more than
just feeling sad, it is a chronic illness that can impede everyday life without seeming to go away.
Even with these scientific confirmations, many still believe that Depression is not a serious
illness and is just a matter of will power. Those with Depression often need medications such as
anti-depressants and therapy to control their symptoms.
Schizophrenia, although less common than Depression, is another serious mental illness.
Schizophrenia can be even more debilitating than Depression. Schizophrenia affects about one
percent of the population or about 2.2 million people in the US (WebMD 2005-2009), which
may be more common than people think. Many believe Schizophrenia is characterized by
multiple personalities. The assumption that Schizophrenia is characterized by multiple
personalities is a long-standing truth that is not the truth at all. Another inaccuracy is that
Schizophrenics are often dangerous. When Schizophrenics ever become dangerous, it is most
often in the home rather than towards society. It is estimated that only about 4% act out violently
in response to their symptoms such as hearing voices (World Fellowship 1997-2009).
Schizophrenia is characterized by having positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and
delusions, or negative symptoms, such as a lack of emotion or speaking infrequently.
Schizophrenics may be confused more often than being dangerous because of their confusion
between their hallucinations and delusions and what is actually happening. Those with
Schizophrenia can be very effectively treated with medication and therapy to control the
debilitating symptoms of this illness.
Although scientists have made astounding discoveries revealing specific causes of mental
illness, many of the general public are unaware of these causes. The media, even in the modern
world, encourage the stigma by romanticizing mental illness by making false generalizations.
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Many average individuals are only aware of a certain mental illness by its depiction in the media,
such as Schizophrenia shown in the films Donnie Darko and A Beautiful Mind. These films
romanticize a serious illness by using action-packed scenes to entertain the audience. The media
has unregulated power that often has negative outcomes, such as encouraging falsities and
stigmas.
Even though many people claim they have no negative feelings towards those with a
mental illness, some may have implicit negative biases they are unaware of. Implicit biases are a
recent theory that can be tested by an implicit analysis inquiry. By pairing words together and
measuring reaction time, the biases towards or against paired words are analyzed.
When individuals are uneducated of the real causes of certain mental illness, common
misconceptions are the only available source of information. Widespread assumptions still linger
in society and facts still are not always apparent. A lack of knowledge is a likely cause for
stigmas and implicit biases associated with mental illness.
Method
Participants were tested using three separate tests in one full session. First, a consent form
and a demographic form were given. Next, a type of ‘quiz’ was given as computerized test.
Participants were asked multiple choice questions regarding symptoms and causes of
Schizophrenia and Depression. The participants could choose as many choices as they pleased,
with many questions having multiple answers. The second computerized test was a test
measuring implicit biases. This test measured fractions of a second, confirming patterns in
reaction times. The words ‘bad’ or ‘good’ were paired with the words Depression and
Schizophrenia in the left and right of the screen. Participants were asked to categorize the paired
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words with other descriptive words in the center of the screen. There were positive words,
negative words, and words specifically attached to one of these words, such as ‘hallucinations’
intended for pairing with Schizophrenia. After this test, there was one last test given to further
measure knowledge of the causes of mental illness. An image resembling a bull’s eye was
presented on the screen with one word in the center. Other words, related or unrelated, were
presented to the left of the bull’s eye. These words represented the causes and symptoms of
Depression and Schizophrenia, as well as the words ‘Depression’ and ‘Schizophrenia’ on their
own. Participants were asked to place the words in relation to the word in the center. If a word
was very closely related to the word in the center, it was to be placed very close to the center. If a
word was moderately related, it was to be placed on the inside of the far circle of the bull’s eye.
For example, dopamine is related as a cause of Schizophrenia; so, if a participant knew this
likely cause, they would place the word ‘dopamine’ near the center of the circle in relation to
Schizophrenia. Lastly, if a word was perceived to be not related at all, participants were asked to
keep that word on the outside of the circle.
Results
A small sample of 27 participants, 9 male (33.3%) and 18 female (66.6%) were tested at
Ursinus College. Even with a small sample, certain trends were able to be analyzed.
When observing participants, there seemed to be common errors and misconceptions in
answers. Many participants, when seeing the words ‘Schizophrenia’ or ‘Depression’ and ‘Good’
paired together, they instantly said, “Now this is hard!”. This seemed to imply that they could not
believe that any quality of an individual having Schizophrenia or Depression would be good and
that the words ‘Depression’ or ‘Schizophrenia’ and ‘Bad’ were a much more natural pairing.
Education vs. Bias
When observing the concept maps of individuals who were categorized as being
uneducated in neurological and psychological concepts of mental illness (having two or less
classes in these categories), there were surprisingly few connections. When grouping these
‘uneducated’ individuals together, concept maps revealed very few patterns in the general
knowledge of causes and symptoms of mental illness.
Demographic Form
The Demographic Form was given at the beginning of the test, with the purpose of
obtaining the level of knowledge of each participant by self-report. Participants were asked if
they had ever met an individual with a mental illness and/or if they had any courses in which
mental illness was discussed. After answering these initial questions, they were given three
statements and asked to circle answers based on a likert scale from 1-5, with ‘1’ being Strongly
disagree and ‘5’ being Strongly agree. Results of each question read below:
56%
3.5%
%
3.5%
%
26%
11%
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Figure 1.1*1: When presented with the statement Mental Illnesses are the result of
neurological dysfunction,the majority of participants chose answer ‘4’, ‘Somewhat agree’.
Although not a significant percentage, I was surprised to see anyone at all would choose to
disagree that mental illness is caused by neurological dysfunction. I believe that if it were
common knowledge that neurological dysfunction is a large factor in causing mental illness,
there may be less stigma associated with it. It is my understanding that many believe that mental
illness is caused by differences in the brain as well as other factors. This supposition would
confirm why most would choose answer ‘4’.
48%
22%
11%
15%
4%
Figure 1.2*2: When presented with the statement, Individuals with mental illnesses are
dangerous, one may not be sure to agree with such a blanket statement. Although the majority
disagreed with this statement, a decent amount of participants agreed. With such a generalization,
1
2
*Percentages Not Exact.
*Percentages Not Exact
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I was surprised to see so many participants revealing that they believe those with mental illness
are dangerous. I wonder if those that agreed were only thinking of certain mental illness, and had
not taken into account common mental illnesses such as Depression or Autism. I do not believe
that 70% is a large enough percentage to disagree that those with mental illnesses are dangerous.
26%
33%
15%
18.5%
7.5%
Figure 1.3*3: When given the statement, Mental Illness is fundamentally different than
medical illness, many participants were confused with this statement. This confusion caused a
variation in answers. Many think of ‘medical’ as something physical other than the brain, such as
heart disease or arthritis. Mental illnesses are medical as any other illness that requires
hospitalization or medication.
Conclusion
Although the sample size of 27 was not great enough to make concrete conclusions,
patterns can still be analyzed. Without taking college-level courses regarding mental illness,
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*Percentages Not Exact.
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many do not know much about mental illness at all. There should be a more widespread
awareness of causes and treatment for mental illness. Many Americans do not have the privilege
of attending college, but this should not prevent them from gaining important knowledge about
health issues. With mental illness afflicting millions of Americans today, there should not be
such widespread stigmas caused by a lack of knowledge. These stigmas are preventing those that
need help from receiving it. College-aged students are the future of America and knowledge of
this generation is the most important to help generations to come.
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Works Cited
About.com. (2009). The New York Times Company. Retrieved February 17th from
http://thyroid.about.com/library/news/blmentalmyths.htm.
Active Minds. (2001-2008). www.activeminds.org.
Project Implicit. (2002-2008). Harvard, MA. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Pies, M.D., Ronald. (2009 May). A Guy, a Car – Beyond Schizophrenia. The New York Times.
Satel, M.D., Sally. (2009, April). To Fight Stigmas, Start with Treatment. The New York Times.
WebMD. www.webmd.com
World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders. (1997-2009).